Past Bikes: 2007 Giant Bowery

The Giant Bowery was the first of three bikes I bought in 2007. I had the urge to add it to my tiny fleet because I wanted to keep the Trek 720 frame free of harm, and the price was right (bike shop employee discount), so I added it. The ugly-assed matte olive drab powdercoat helped seal the deal.

It eventually inherited a bunch of the parts from the Trek — the wheels, stem, seat, and pedals all carried over. For an aluminum single-speed bike it weighed a fucking ton — 20+ pounds — but it was incredibly stiff, and rode like a rocket. The downside was, it was also incredibly stiff and rode like a jackhammer. I eventually added a carbon fork and lighter, more-flexible handlebars to take the edge off the ride.

Not a bad bike once I modded the hell out of it.

Ultimate Fate: The Bowery suffered from two factors — it was the first of the three bikes that I bought in 2007 and it really didn’t stack up against the other two (a full Dura-Ace Salsa Campeon and a full-Ultegra Salsa Las Cruces). I rode it less and less. Then I landed a job on the far side of town — moving my commute from 2 miles to 17 miles. I wound up parting out the bike and selling most of it to fund the purchase of my Surly Cross-Check.